Hillary on health care

source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/07/03/2007-07-03_the_daily_news_candidate_challenge__hill.html#economy

Would you require employers to provide health care insurance to workers as a way of achieving universal coverage? If not, how would you reduce the ranks of America's 47 million uninsured?

I have a lot of experience in trying to cover more Americans, and the scars to show for it. Part of why I'm running for President is to ensure every American has health care and that is why on day one of my campaign, I talked about the need for universal health care. And I've offered three principles that will guide our work: cost, quality and coverage. I began by addressing cost because we will only be able to achieve universal health care if we get these costs under control. I laid out specific ideas to lower costs for everyone by using health information technology, by spurring a new focus on prevention, by promoting chronic care management, and by creating a best practices institute that lowers cots by focusing on the most effective procedures, medicines, and protocols. In the coming months I will lay out my proposals to cover every American.

source: http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php#raise_taxes

A universal public system would be financed this way: The public financing already funneled to Medicare and Medicaid would be retained. The difference, or the gap between current public funding and what we would need for a universal health care system, would be financed by a payroll tax on employers (about 7%) and an income tax on individuals (about 2%). The payroll tax would replace all other employer expenses for employees’ health care. The income tax would take the place of all current insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and any and all other out of pocket payments. For the vast majority of people a 2% income tax is less than what they now pay for insurance premiums and in out-of-pocket payments such as co-pays and deductibles, particularly for anyone who has had a serious illness or has a family member with a serious illness. It is also a fair and sustainable contribution. Currently, over 41 million people have no insurance and thousands of people with insurance are bankrupted when they have an accident or illness. Employers who currently offer no health insurance would pay more, but they would receive health insurance for the same low rate as larger firms. Many small employers have to pay 25% or more of payroll now for health insurance – so they end up not having insurance at all. For large employers, a payroll tax in the 7% range would mean they would pay less than they currently do (about 8.5%). No employer, moreover, would hold a competitive advantage over another because his cost of business did not include health care. And health insurance would disappear from the bargaining table between employers and employees.

Another consideration is that everyone would have the same comprehensive health coverage, including all medical, hospital, eye care, dental care, long-term care, and mental health services. Currently, many people and businesses are paying huge premiums for insurance that is almost worthless if they were to have a serious illness.